Year 1 Sem 1 (Sem 1A)
As newbies, you will be introduced to the media industry through theory-based lessons such as Deconstructing Television (DT) and Creative Story Making (CSM) to build a strong foundation, where you still produce stories on paper and not yet on films. You will also slowly get accustomed to long nights and sleepless hours. Creative Story Making (CSM) Inspirations don’t come when you stare at the moon long and hard. They come from anything and everything around you. The characters in your stories reflect the people you meet in your life, the places are the once you’ve been to or seen before, and by the end of the module, you will realise that there is a piece of yourself in everything that you write, and I don’t mean literally. Elements of A Story 1) What a story needs – A central character aka the Protagonist 2) An Inciting Incident a. Something that sparks off the story b. Why is today different from another day? 3) A Goal for the Protagonist a. What does the protagonist want? b. What does he care about? 4) A Plan a. How does the protagonist obtain his goal? b. How does he overcome obstacles? 5) An Antagonist a. The thing or person that’s stopping the protagonist from achieving his goal 6) Conflict a. What’s the risk of fear? 7) A Resolution a. How is the problem solved? b. How has the protagonist changed throughout the journey? c. Open-ended vs Close-ended Secrets – A Storytelling Device A secret is a powerful story telling device as they: *Imply mystery and drama *Build tension *Create suspense *Engage the audience Heroes, Myths and Legends (HML) This module teaches you more about heroes than myths and legends put together. In fact, you learn nothing about myths and legends, and instead you have to come up with your own grandfather's tale. You will also learn to create memorable characters for your stories (extremely useful). 7 Basic Story Forms 1) Overcoming The Monster 2) Rags to Riches 3) The Quest 4) Voyage & Return 5) Comedy 6) Tragedy 7) Rebirth Archetypes Def. Common characters found in myths and legends. Constant through times and cultures. Helps us understand the function of characters in a story. 1) Hero (protagonist) *Character who drives your story *Heroes should always be likeable, eventually. 2) Mentor (wise man/woman) *To teach and protect the hero and/or… *To impart ‘gift’ to hero 3) Threshold Guardian *Blocks the hero’s way. Can be defeated. Can even turn into a friend. *To test the hero. Helps the hero grow and become stronger. 4) Trickster *Clown, sidekick, friend *Comic relief, relieves tension and conflict 5) The Shadow (antagonist, villain) *To be worthy opponent of hero’s struggle *Dedicated to the destruction of the hero Visual Communication (VC) You are bombarded with visuals everyday through advertisements, dressing etc. Visuals alone can tell a story, without the use of dialogue. The actions and expressed emotions can inform, persuade, warn and motivate viewers. The lessons here will stay with you FER LYF. Ask any DTVM student. All of us no longer see a picture as just a picture. We look out for Rule of Thirds, colours, positions, and subtle, underlying messages. Watching TV will never be the same again (damn!). Forms of Visual Communication: - Dramatic -- Evokes intense emotions - Non-dramatic -- Still life - Interactive -- Requires viewer’s response, like touchscreens Messages conveyed: - Informative - Explicative (excessive) - Directive (has a focal point) - Expressive (emotive) Visual Analysis: - What do you see? - What is it trying to say? - How is it portrayed/executed/communicated? - Why is it portrayed that way (purpose)? - Time factors: When and Where - Who are the intended audience? Composition: Aspect Ratio Standard TV (NTSC) – 4.3 Recent TV (HDTV) – 16.9 Shot: - Mid-shot (MS) - Close-up (CU) - Extreme close-up (ECU) - Wide-shot (WS) - Long-shot (LS) - Two-shot - Over-the-shoulder What’s a… Frame – Still image Shot – A take before a cut Scene – Different shots in one location Sequence – A variety of scenes that is related, usually developing around a subject Lines: Horizontal ( – ): Peace/stability Vertical ( | ): Power/strength Diagonal ( / ): Dynamic/instability Colour: Primary – Red, Green, Blue Secondary – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, (K)black Additive: Add up to white (RGB) Subtractive: Filters white light to desired colours. Mise-en-scène: What you see within a frame, without any cuts (one shot). Cinéma Vérité: Cinema of Truth (what you see is what you get) Writing across Media Platforms (WMP) Ah…welcome to the world of Journalism, where your brain juices will dry up and your mind needs to quench its thirst by the end of every lesson. Look forward to fun activities by Yours Truly and influence people with your powerful words (that doesn’t involve strings of profanities). Examples of Media Platforms: - Print - TV - Radio - SMS - Website Evolution: Print --> Broadcast --> Online TV Terminology: 1. Miss-take – Something than can be corrected, forgivable 2. Cut – Stop 3. Standby – Prepare 4. Cue – Start Mainstream media = Conventional/traditional media E.g. Newspaper, TV, Radio news channels Internet (not always mainstream) E.g. Websites, blogs Why writing is still important? The need to develop content that is meaningful and appropriate for new media. Develop writing style and creativity. How To Trust Sites – Evaluating Info on the Internet ü Authorship (url, domain) ü Publishing Body (headers, footers, about us, contact us) ü Point of view or bias (info is rarely neutral) ü Referral to other sources ü Verifiability ü How current it is ü How to distinguish propaganda, misinformation, disinformation ü Feedback of forum inputs (gauge of audience) Characteristics of Digital Age: - Manipulative: Easily changeable and adaptable at all stages of creation, storage, delivery and use. - Networkable: Can be shared, exchanges among many users simultaneously and across enormous distance. - Dense: Large amounts of info can be stored in small physical spaces (e.g. Thumbdrives, network servers) - Accessible: Technology allows us to connect to all over the world in seconds What is New Media? Convergence of 3Cs – Communications network, Content Information, Computing & info technology Aka Digital Media: Combines data, text, sound, images of all kinds Shovelware: Stories barely changed from print or broadcast offering Vs. Repurpose: Fit into the medium Lean back: Watch TV, sit back, relax Vs. Lean forward: Interactive action (new media) Deconstructing TV (DT) So, you want to write for TV. You first got to learn how it all came about. This module will guide you through the history of TV and how genres evolve with time. Purpose of TV: 1. Inform a. News b. Bulletins c. Info programs 2. Educate a. Documentaries b. Children’s TV i. Fun(ny) ii. Magical iii. Touching iv. Educational v. Action-packed vi. Aspires children to be heroes/good 3. Entertain a. Drama i. Appeals to emotions ii. Funny (comic relief) iii. Interesting plots iv. Scandal/sex to hook audience b. Comedy i. Funny ii. Behavioural iii. Quirky iv. Dysfunctional c. Game shows i. Knowledge ii. Solving puzzles iii. Foolish contestants iv. Challenging v. Competitive vi. Family-oriented vii. Elements of suspense d. Reality shows i. Challenging ii. Extreme!! iii. Transformation iv. Emotional Issues and Viewpoints (IVP) The world we live in is not a beautiful place, well, not all the time. Learn about the harsh, harsh realities around world. Learn from the stupidity of man in the past, be aware of the current manmade disasters, and worry about the future. Be very worried. And grateful every morning for being able to wake up by the alarm ring, not a bomb on your rooftop. Objective – unbiased Subjective – to a person’s opinion Racism --> Hate --> Resentment --> Violence --> Death I have no idea what else to say cause I have practically no notes for this. Aaand that's all we have for Year 1 Semester 1. The following semesters would only get worst better, and busier. Stock up on those Red Bulls and condoms. I mean, candles. For late nights. Period. Category:Modules Category:Year 1 Sem 1